by Diane Craver
She laughed, shoving it close to him. He knew that lemon meringue pie was her favorite. “Take some. Are you going to share your carrot cake with me and our baby?”
His eyes showed his strong emotion at her words. He put his fork down on his plate and grasped her hand. “I love hearing you say ‘our baby.’ I know this is hard on you physically to have another baby this soon, but I’ll help as much as I can.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m going to call tomorrow to make an appointment.”
“I’m glad.” He gave her an excited glance. “If you wouldn’t mind, I could ask my mother to come to help you after the baby is born. Lillian will be teaching school, so you won’t have her to help you.”
“That would be nice to have your mother here, but with the baby due the middle of December, she might want to be home for Christmas. It’s too bad that our school isn’t like the English schools and have a long Christmas break. Then my mother would be available.”
Jonathan said, “My mother can do the housework and watch Isaac and Grace while you nurse the baby. I’m sure she’ll want to come. She won’t mind leaving Wisconsin during December. Their winters are colder than here. I wish they hadn’t moved so far away.”
“Well, if they had remained in Kenton, you might have stayed there, and we would never have met.”
“That’s true. I’m glad God nudged me to move to Fields Corner. Now that we’re together, I hope they move back. I don’t see that happening, because Mamm will want to stay in Wisconsin with Thomas and his family.”
She knew why Jonathan said that. He felt his mother’s favorite was Thomas. “I think it’s mainly because of the grandchildren. She saw her daughter-in-law could use her help.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Molly saw Violet and Luke enter the restaurant. When she saw them glance her way, she waved at them.
When they stood beside their table, Luke smiled. “Looks like we had the same idea about eating here. I worked longer in the shop because I waited for someone to come in to get their new buggy. Violet worked late at the birthing center.”
Jonathan nodded. “I decided to treat my girl to a night out on the town.”
Molly felt relief that he didn’t let it slip she was pregnant, and how he wanted her to take it easy. She turned her head away from Jonathan to look at Luke and Violet. “Anna is watching Isaac and Grace.”
“Have you heard from Priscilla?” Violet asked. “I wrote her a letter and told her about expecting a baby. I keep thinking maybe I should call her soon to see how she is doing.”
Molly leaned forward. “I haven’t written or called her yet. I was going to call her after we learned she’d left, but I didn’t.”
Jonathan tapped the table. “Why don’t you grab a couple of chairs and sit with us?”
“Thank you, but we can’t stay. Rachel and Samuel invited us over for dessert at their house.” Violet laughed. “Rachel is excited I’m pregnant and said we need to celebrate. We want to get there before Rachel puts Irene to bed.”
Luke placed his hand on Violet’s back. “Ya, we better order so we won’t get to their house too late.”
After they left and were seated at a table on the other side of the restaurant, Molly said, “I feel guilty that my sister-in-law made time to write a letter to Priscilla, but I haven’t. I’ll call her when we get home.”
Jonathan took a bite of her lemon pie. “Your pie is delicious.”
“I wonder if Sadie ever sent cookies to Priscilla.” She jabbed her fork in Jonathan’s carrot cake, thinking it was nice to have two desserts to taste. As she savored the moist and sweet cake with a touch of cinnamon, she thought it was her second favorite dessert . . . a close second.
“What do you want to do after we leave here?” Jonathan’s face brightened. “Hey, we can go to the park. I’ll ask for refills of our coffee when I pay the bill. It shouldn’t be too hot for coffee outside this air-conditioned place. It didn’t get as hot today. They can give you decaf and put our coffee in to-go cups. We can sip our drinks and sit on a park bench. And hold hands. Does that sound good?”
“Ya, I’d like to go to the park with you. I don’t want our date night to end yet.” As she stared at her husband, she felt blessed. Each day she was grateful for Jonathan, and never regretted marrying him. At first, she wondered how she could trust another man after Caleb had kept things from her that he should’ve told her. “I don’t know how you escaped Kenton without getting hitched. You are thoughtful and romantic.”
He smiled, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “And good-looking.”
She laughed. “And conceited.”
* * *
As they pulled the buggy into their barn, Jonathan’s cell phone vibrated. Molly wasn’t crazy about him having a phone, but he had it because he was a firefighter. When she was single and pregnant with Grace, she had bought a cheap cell phone. She had wanted to have a phone to use when she started labor. If her labor started and she was alone, Molly feared she would have difficulty getting to the phone shanty she shared with her Amish neighbors. Or if she had a medical emergency with Isaac, she had felt safer having a phone in the house. Now that she was married to Jonathan, she no longer had a cell phone. She’d given it to Anna for her use as a midwife. Jonathan had a landline phone installed in their barn and following their Ordnung rules was important to Molly.
Jonathan looked up from his phone. “I got a text that there is a fire. I’m going to text them I’m home. I should be picked up soon.”
“Where is the fire?” She saw his fingers quickly texting. It always amazed her to see her Amish husband texting, but he only did it when there was a fire. Whenever there was a fire, all firefighters received a simple text message to their cell phones. Molly would rather Jonathan never send texts, but she was relieved it was not often. Personal cell phones were not allowed in their district except if you had a business. Then it could be used for business calls, so English customers could contact you when they needed to for an order. Luke only had a landline in his buggy store, but Violet had a cell phone. With her many English and Amish patients, Molly’s father and the ministers gave her permission to have a cell phone. Violet couldn’t very well go to a barn or phone shanty to check at all hours to see if a patient had called. Or if Dr. Tony or Dr. Paul had called her. Even the other Amish midwife Ada had a cell phone to use for her home birth patients.
Molly had been relieved there hadn’t been many fires in Fields Corner or the surrounding areas. It was a worry knowing that Caleb had died in a fire, and now she had a husband risking his life by being a firefighter. She’d been praying if she had the right to ask Jonathan to quit the fire department. They’d soon have three little ones. Sure, there hadn’t been any recent serious fires, but sometime there might be.
“A store’s roof is on fire. I don’t know which one.” Jonathan pulled her to him. “I need to get to the end of our driveway. Dale will be here soon.”
Dale was an English firefighter who gave Jonathan a ride whenever there was a fire. He lived a few minutes from their place. She ran her finger along his cheek. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
His lips brushed hers for a quick kiss. “I love you. Go inside and get Anna to take care of Ginger. I don’t have time. The way she loves horses, she’ll be happy to do it.”
“I love you.” She kissed him again, then murmured, “Be careful.”
He climbed out of the buggy and swiftly went to the other side to help her climb down to the ground. She watched him for a moment as he walked down their driveway. What a perfect evening they’d had together. The time at the park had been sweet. Now to have Jonathan called away to a fire was not the end to their time together she’d anticipated. In fact, she recalled another night that she’d gone out, except that time it’d been with Caleb. She had been pregnant with Grace when Caleb had wanted to treat her to supper . . . at Angela’s Restaurant. Ironically, it was because he’d sold a horse to their new neighbor—Jonathan. Now she was pregnant wi
th another baby with her second husband. Surely, she couldn’t lose two husbands due to fire.
Molly prayed out loud: “Heavenly Father, please keep Jonathan and the other firefighters safe tonight as they put out the store’s fire. Thank you for the new life that is growing inside me. Please bless this little one I’m carrying. Keep the baby healthy. You know I lost Caleb because of a fire.” Tears slid out from under her eyelashes and rolled onto her cheeks. “I pray that Jonathan and the others will get the fire out quickly and no one will be injured. Amen.”
While she wiped the wetness from her face, Molly thought, I can unhitch the horse, but I might as well get Anna. She loves spending time with horses. I won’t be surprised if she decides to train horses instead of continuing as a midwife.
Anna, wearing a green dress spattered with spots, entered the barn and said, “I saw Jonathan and he told me about the fire. I put Isaac and Grace in their beds.”
“Danki. Did they behave for you? From the looks of your dress, it doesn’t look like it.” Funny how mothers always hated to ask this question, because what if the kinner hadn’t been gut? Somehow it seemed like the right question after being away for a few hours.
Anna glanced down at her dress. “We had a food fight.” She grinned at Molly. “I’m kidding. Isaac wiped his dirty hands on my dress. I told him that’s what napkins are for.”
“I’ll wash it when I do laundry.”
Anna started unhitching Ginger from the buggy. “Isaac asked me about Aenti Cilla. He misses her, but I played with him and he was happy again. Grace was adorable and liked me holding her.”
“He does miss Priscilla. Those two have always been close.” Molly missed her sister, too, and felt like crying that Priscilla was far away from them. She needed something to do so she didn’t start bawling, and noticed the horses could use feed. Molly scooped oats out of the grain bin, dumping feed in the horses’ troughs. Although Cinnamon was the horse she’d bought after the barn fire killed their livestock, Ginger was her favorite. She didn’t get spooked as easily as Cinnamon did on the highways when English drivers beeped their horns.
“I hope Priscilla has a great time at the beach,” Anna said. “It shouldn’t be too hard on her taking care of one little girl.”
“Have you written Priscilla? We saw Violet and Luke at the restaurant. I feel guilty because I haven’t called or written her. Violet has sent her a letter already.”
Anna grinned. “Ya, I have. You can feel more guilt now. I included my letter with the box of cookies Sadie baked this morning.”
As Anna removed the harness and led Ginger to her stall, Molly wondered what Priscilla was doing at the beach on this Tuesday evening. Was she painting or sitting on a sand dune watching the waves? It was better for Molly to think about her sister in Florida than to worry about Jonathan. She exhaled a deep breath and thought, The Lord will watch over him.
Chapter Twelve
Siesta Key, Florida
After a full week of being a nanny, Priscilla missed her family but was adjusting well to her routine . . . except she felt a bit shy around Madison. After all, she was a bestselling author and had been on TV. Of course, Priscilla hadn’t seen Madison on any of the TV talk shows, but Hannah’s cousin Naomi had. Olivia hadn’t helped when she’d asked her about her accent. Immediately, Madison had said her accent was charming. When Madison explained to her daughter how Priscilla could speak three languages, Olivia’s expressive green eyes had filled with a questioning look. Then Priscilla had nodded and said, “Of course, you already know I speak English and Pennsylvania Dutch, and the other language is German.”
As she climbed out of the in-ground pool, Priscilla felt like she was living a dream. She stood still and gazed at the beach with the beautiful sunset of pinks and oranges. I can’t wait until I paint the sunset here, Priscilla thought. One of her previous paintings had been a sunset behind their barn. Before she did a sunset ocean painting, she wanted to stay focused on her daytime picture of the beach. On Monday morning, Madison’s husband Jason had to leave to go back to his bank job in Ohio. Olivia left with her parents to go to the airport. Priscilla had jumped at the opportunity to paint, and appreciated having an easel, paints, and brushes available. Madison had instructed her not to bring any of her art supplies. They’d gone to the store her first weekend there to purchase what she wanted for her painting, and Olivia had decided she needed new crayons for her artwork.
When she saw the happiness on Madison’s face at Jason’s presence, Priscilla wondered if her two months at Siesta Key might be shortened. It was obvious Madison had missed her husband during the workweek. It had to be hard on a marriage to be apart during the week. She couldn’t imagine her mother leaving for two months, and no way would her father travel on weekends a long distance to spend time with her. For one thing, the Old Order Amish didn’t fly. She supposed if there were some kind of a medical emergency to save someone’s life, then it would be okay to fly. There was one time when her mother had traveled to her parents’ farm in Northern Ohio because Mammi had shingles. She was gone for a few weeks, and all the kinner wondered if Daed would survive without their mother. He seemed lost without his Lillian. And it couldn’t have been because the meals weren’t as good as their mother’s cooking. Molly hadn’t been married to Caleb yet, so she still lived at home. Like their mother, Molly was an excellent cook.
I wonder if Daed is surviving without me at home. Priscilla laughed a little. Of course he is. She was a little hurt that no one had written her except Violet. But she’d only been gone a short time. She’d been happy to hear about Violet and Luke expecting a baby. Sadie and Anna had left phone messages, so it’d been gut to hear their voices.
“Hello, Priscilla.”
At the sound of Mitch Levitt’s voice, her heart raced. Ach, she should’ve planned better and put her cover-up over her swimsuit. Turning away from the sunset, she smiled at her intruder during her relaxing time. The other day she’d met Mitch briefly when Olivia and she were leaving the pool. He wore a T-shirt and shorts this time instead of swimming trunks. He must not be planning on going swimming this evening. Remembering how her jaw had dropped at seeing him the other day, Priscilla decided she needed to act nonchalant this time and not stare at him like he was the most good-looking man she’d ever seen. Black, tousled hair fell over his forehead, and his brown eyes reminded her of dark chocolate. While staring at his face, she wondered what it would be like to paint a picture of Mitch. Capturing his chiseled cheeks and the perfect symmetry of his face would be a challenge. How could she do justice with a painting of Mitch? He was perfect.
It was embarrassing when she realized he had caused her to be speechless again. She cleared her throat. “Hi, Mitch. I was enjoying the gorgeous sunset.”
He nodded. “It’s colorful. I’m going to walk on the beach. I’d like company. Would you like to go with me?”
She hesitated because of so many reasons. Her uncovered hair was down her back in a braid, and she wore a swimsuit. Even though the suit had a skirt, it still didn’t seem appropriate for her to walk with him. Although Madison had warned her of his good looks, Priscilla still had been shocked when she met him. She had seen a couple of movies with Hannah, and Mitch reminded her of a Hollywood star. Well, he’s already seen my hair twice now, and will probably again. I’m not going to wear a prayer covering while I’m swimming. That would be silly. No one would ask her or judge her for not wearing a prayer covering while at the beach. She wouldn’t tell anyone back home but thought how Molly probably wore a kapp on the beach. When she and Jonathan had gone to Sarasota for their honeymoon, it was doubtful Molly had even gone swimming. She had never been one to enjoy swimming in the ponds like the rest of their siblings.
“Danki,” Priscilla said. “I’d like to take a walk, but it needs to be short. I’m expecting a call in an hour.”
“A short walk it is.”
In a hurry, she pulled her matching pink cover-up over her head. She loved her pink on
e-piece swimsuit so had purchased the tunic in the same color. Although she felt more comfortable having her suit covered, she still felt bare. She reminded herself that it would not hurt to walk with him. It wasn’t likely that she’d ever see Mitch again after this summer, because he was from New York. While living here, it won’t hurt for me to have someone close to my age to talk to other than Hannah. And I’ve been disappointed that she’s been too busy working at the inn to talk.
Before they stepped off the patio steps, Mitch removed his flip-flops and put them next to the railing. Once they hit the sand, they walked toward the ocean. Mitch smiled. “I noticed you were painting earlier today when I went to the beach. You were so absorbed that I didn’t want to bother you. I couldn’t help peeking at your painting. You’re a very talented artist. Your family must be proud of you.”
She smiled back at him, realizing he must’ve seen her in her Plain clothing. She hadn’t bothered with buying English clothing except for her swimming stuff. “Not exactly. My father told me I needed to stop painting this summer and focus on joining our church.”
He raised his eyebrows. “That’s a shame your dad feels this way. God’s blessed you with a special talent.” He laughed. “I definitely can’t draw. My nephew asked me to draw a dog for him, and it didn’t resemble any breed of dog.”
“You have other gifts. Madison mentioned you graduated from college and have been accepted to law school.” She didn’t need to explain how the Amish didn’t go beyond the eighth grade, so they never went to college. Well, except for Violet, but she hadn’t been Amish when she graduated from college. That didn’t happen often. Few Englishers joined their faith.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure I want to be a lawyer. My father is a divorce lawyer, and he wants me to join him in his practice after I finish law school. He has my life pretty much planned out for me.”
She couldn’t see why anyone would want to be a divorce lawyer. Helping someone to divorce their spouse seemed awful to her. What a way to make a living for a family, Priscilla thought. “There wouldn’t be much business for a divorce lawyer in our Amish districts. Divorce is not approved in our church, but still it might occur in rare cases. If divorce happens, it would be a reason for excommunication. There are occasionally separations.”